


I Know Why The Caged Bird Sings

by Redshifted



Category: Marvel Cinematic Universe, The Avengers (Marvel Movies), The Incredible Hulk (2008)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Amnesiac Character, Canon-Typical Violence, Gen, Grey-Asexual Character, Hydra (Marvel), No Romance, elemental powers
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2014-12-15
Updated: 2014-12-15
Packaged: 2018-03-01 13:34:14
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 4
Words: 4,963
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/2774873
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Redshifted/pseuds/Redshifted
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>She can't remember who she is let alone her own name. The flashes of broken memories and bits of information do nothing but raise more questions. Gifted with unimaginable strength, speed and agility, she struggles to control her fragile grip on her gradually emerging powers and reality itself as she feels her sanity slowly slipping away. </p><p>Bruce has been on the move ever since Harlem. Keeping a low profile as best he can while he tries to help those in need. A dark night, several people dead and a transformation into the Hulk is just the beginning as he meets an amnesiac girl with strange powers and a questionable grip on sanity.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> This is my first fanfic and I just really would appreciate some feedback and whether I should continue. 
> 
> By the way I don't do romance so if that's your thing, look elsewhere.

You shouldn't be walking alone at this time of night, no, actually, people shouldn't fucking attack other people any time of day. -Tumblr user harrysgettinhead

* * *

 

In retrospect, getting involved in anything that could raise one's blood pressure was something Dr. Bruce Banner tended to avoid. Unfortunately, having a sense of duty to help others in need resulted in more than a few unsavory encounters. His other, angrier half, was always enough to get him out of even the worst trouble, but there were usually casualties and that merely increased his sense of guilt.

The current predicament he found himself was of the milder ones. A gang of slightly intoxicated young men had managed to corner a girl in her late teens in a dark parking lot. Now, he wasn't going to walk by and ignore it. The problem lay in how to defuse the situation without violence.

A call earlier that night for his aid in helping a neighbor with a badly broken arm was really the only reason for Bruce's being there. But there he was, and it was his moral duty to intervene.

He began approaching the group but before he could say anything the girl attempted to step away from the men and the one standing closest to her grabbed her arm. She just glanced up at him and raised her eyebrows in a "do you really want to do that" expression.

Bruce opened his mouth to speak when the man holding the girl pulled a handgun out and pistol whipped her hard across the face.

The girl's head twisted to the side and down. She made no move to retaliate. Bruce felt a wave of anger overtake him and he began to lose focus. Before he blacked out completely he could have sworn he saw the girl hurling the man who had hit her across the parking lot to collide with a wall.

* * *

 

The girl had felt no fear when the men had approached her. She had found it almost laughable that they thought they could harm her with no consequences. The fact that they were slightly intoxicated almost changed her mind but once the lead one holding her struck her with his gun **(Taurus PT 111)** it was too late for any of them.

A slight twinge of remorse was replaced by impassiveness as she reversed the man's hold on her and threw him at a nearby wall. ( **Impact estimated 70 mp/h, multiple bone fractures, dead on impact.)**

The other three stared in shock but were quickly shaken from their daze as a roar reverberated around them. A large green creature grabbed one of the remaining men by the leg and smashed him against the ground, **(broken leg, dead on impact)** killing him instantly.

The girl rapidly recovered from her surprise as well and moved to dispose of the other two. She struck one in the chest, **(broken sternum, multiple broken and/or bruised ribs, internal bleeding)**. She followed up with a strike to the head, **(shattered skull, severe brain damage, internal hemorrhaging)**.

The other had tried to run but was blocked by the large green creature. The girl ripped off part of the hood of a nearby car and ran toward the last man before he could move. She slashed her improvised weapon through his throat, causing blood to spurt out, **(arterial bleeding)** staining the man's shirt a deep scarlet. He let out a wet gasp before dropping to the pavement and succumbing to his injury. **(COD blood loss.)**

The large green creature turned his attention to the girl as the last man fell still. She looked up at him and a look of delight crossed her face.

"Well this is new," she pointed behind the creature "if you want to get out of town, that way's the fastest." The creature grunted and turned around.

She watched in curiosity as he leapt away, reaching hundreds of feet into the air with one jump.

After he was out of sight she turned back and surveyed her work. The bodies of the slain men were scattered across the dark lot in various states of mutilation.

The girl walked over to the placed where the first man had grabbed her and picked up the gun he had dropped. **(9mm Taurus PT 111 pistol, Double action semiautomatic, magazine capacity 12 rounds.)** She quickly checked the magazine.

_11 rounds left, in great condition and it's a Taurus. Sweet!_

A quick search of the bodies came up with a gun holster, another magazine, this one full, a single cellphone that had not been smashed, **(Samsung A523, GPS, battery life 20 days standby)** no small amount of money, credit and debit cards.

_Not bad, not bad. Drunk college dickwads though, good riddance._

She glanced back in the direction where the creature had fled. She could have sworn he had emerged out of nowhere. There had been no one there but a man with curly hair....

_No, it's possible. After all just take a look at yourself. You don't even know what you are._

She looked down at her hands and sighed. _I tried, I really did. I killed them quickly this time though. That's got to count for something. Anyway, they shouldn't have been trying to hurt anyone. Just because I could defend myself doesn't make it right._

**8% of college man have either attempted rape or successfully raped. 30% say they would rape if they thought they could get away with it. 58% say they would rape when the wording was changed to "force women to have sex." 83.5 argue-**

She blinked rapidly and shook her head to try and dispel the images and information-

**"Isn't that awful though? It's a sad world we live in isn't it." Blue eyes and a sad smile, a feeling of warmth and safety. "Go to college, get a degree and fix it if you're that upset." A pixie hair cut and sharp voice that somehow held affection. A crackling fire, wood paneling on the walls, those stupid pictures of-**

She was jerked back to the present by the sound of sirens in the distance. Turning around she ran out of the lot and made her way through the dark alleyways out of sight of the main roads. Her mind raced.

_Where did that come from? When did that happen? Who are those people?_

_Who am I?_

 


	2. This isn't Twilight I swear

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> After waking up Bruce meets the mysterious girl with incredible strength and an unknown past.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Here's chapter two, thanks to those who left kudos and bookmarked! It really means a lot. Please feel free to review, whether to give feedback or just point out typos, it's all welcome.

Bruce woke up to the sound of someone typing. His head pounded and his mouth was dry, it felt like a bad hangover, but he knew better. He only ever felt like this after a transformation into the Hulk.

What happened?

He remembered helping a neighbour with a broken arm late at night. Walking to his apartment. A group of men surrounding a teenage girl. One grabbing and hitting her...

He grimaced, it was coming back now. He had Hulked out, the rest was a blur. The only question remaining was, had anyone been hurt? Even killed?

Sitting up he suddenly remembered what had woken him. The girl from what he assumed was last night was sitting roughly ten feet away from him on a fallen log.

He looked around. He was sitting in the middle of the woods. There was no sign of human activity aside from him and the girl.

The girl in question had a laptop on her lap and was happily clicking away. She had short dark brown hair in a pixie cut and while taller than what could be considered average, she wasn't giant. She was wearing a black jacket and cargo pants with shoes that looked like hybrids between hiking boots and sneakers.

She glanced up at him and he noticed she had sharp grey eyes. To be honest, that was the only thing that really stood out. Even her facial features were average. She smiled brightly.

"Rise and shine my sleeping beauty. You've been out nearly the entire day."

He stared.

She sighed, "I didn't follow you just for kicks you know. That little commotion's got the whole town buzzing. We gotta skedaddle before they trace it back to us."

Bruce recovered his voice, "Little commotion?"

Her mouth quirked up on one side as she turned the laptop around so he could read the headline.

GRUESOME MASS MURDER IN QUAINT COLLEGE TOWN, NO LEADS.

A feeling of dread filled Bruce, "How many are dead?"

"Four" She replied, "The cops are stumped. No one can figure out how one person could possibly have hurled another person against a wall hard enough to kill him. Let alone smash someone into the ground, that one was messy, let me tell you."

Bruce swallowed hard, guilt spreading through him as he listened.

He knew the Hulk had killed people before but seeing the headline and hearing the girl's descriptions of their deaths made it worse somehow. He was a danger to everyone around him. A monster. A living weapon. What was he thinking being around so many people? Any number of things could go wrong and just look at what happened when they did. He should stay away from larger populations, maybe live in the wild...

He was so lost in his thoughts that he nearly missed what she was saying.

"Of course it's only a matter of time before they find a security camera with a view of the crime scene or pull some fingerprints off whatever I touched and seeing as we're now partners in crime we might as well stick to- hey, you're looking a little woozy. You're not going to faint on me are you?"

She put the laptop to one side and knelt in front of him.

"Hey, hey. Don't panic. It wasn't you, you didn't do this."

"No," He got out, "I did, this is my fault."

She bit her lip, looking conflicted. Bruce put his head between his knees and tried to control his breathing. He could feel his heart rate speeding up. Not again. He'd even doing so well, nearly five months since an incident. Until now at least. After a minute of trying his breathing still wasn't under control.

"I killed them!" She burst out.

He looked up in shock, "What?"

She seemed surprised at what she said but after a moment she took a breath and continued, "I'm the one who killed them. I mean, you got like, one, but I would have killed him anyways and he probably would have died slower if I had..."she trailed off, an expression of guilt and distress on her face.

Bruce tried to wrap his head around what she was saying.

"You, but. I don't understand"

She winced, "Damn, well, without going all Twilighty on you, look."

She stood up and walked over to where she'd been sitting before. A dark blue duffle bag was laying there. Opening it she took out a crowbar, of all things. Walking back over to Bruce she handed it to him.

"There, try and bend that."

"Excuse me?"

"Just do it"

He obediently tried to bend it and, as expected, nothing happened. She grabbed it from his hands and held it out, horizontal with a hand on either end.

"Watch carefully" She instructed him.

And without further ado she effortlessly twisted the crowbar into a U shape.

Bruce blinked. That was impossible, no one was that strong.

The Other Guy is just as strong. That wouldn't even faze him.

He reminded himself of that fact and took a second look at the girl. Nope, completely ordinary. Except for the fact that she could bend solid metal like it was clay.

Then again, he looked completely ordinary as well. Until he turned into a giant green monster. So how could she do that?

The girl bent the crowbar back to its former shape and set it back down.

"I don't know why, or how, but I'm like, really strong now. Fast as well."

Bruce shook his head, "How did this happen?"

She shrugged, "I don't remember, I know a bunch of other stuff though. Anything that isn't personal"

She paused, looking sad, "I can't remember who I am."

Suddenly, she brightened and picked up her duffle bag.

"We have to go now. Unless you don't want to come with? 'Cause I totally get that, but we'd be the most kickass team ever. No one would mess with us."

Bruce thought about it. In reality, having a companion would just increase his chances of getting tracked down and caught. However, there was a very simple reason for wanting to go with her. He was lonely. His current lifestyle meant that he never stayed in one place long enough to make friends and even if he did, he had to move on eventually.

Who was she though? Did she had a family? Was someone looking for her?

Still, questions would be asked. She had been at the scene of the crime. There might be physical evidence. Unlikely though it seemed there could have been a witness. She was now a fugitive as well.

Bruce shrugged, "I suppose there isn't really a choice is there?"

She became serious once again, "There should always be a choice."

She gestured for him to follow, "Come on then, if you're coming."

He smiled as he caught up to her, "So, do you remember your name?"

She shook her head, "No, I'll find a good one though, at least until I find out what my original one was."

Bruce recalled the computer that she had been using, "What were you looking at on that computer anyways, and how'd you get your hands on something like that?"

The girl laughed, "I was looking at Tumblr, if you can believe it. A few other things as well. As for the laptop, the guys I took down had some cash on them. It was enough."

Bruce looked at her incredulously, "Tumblr?"

"Hey, don't judge me okay. I got an account and you actually learn a lot that isn't in mainstream news." 

They walked in silence for a few minutes until the girl spoke again.

"What do you think about Houston?"

"Houston?"

"Yeah, it has a big port and it's international. We could get out of the country pretty easily."

Bruce shrugged, "Why not? Any destination in particular?"

She brightened at his question, "Now that you mention it, Nigeria sounds like a good place to go."

"Nigeria it is then."


	3. Travel Tips: How To Blend In Dos and Don'ts

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> After waking up Bruce meets the mysterious girl with incredible strength and an unknown past.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Here's chapter two, thanks to those who left kudos and bookmarked! It really means a lot. Please feel free to review, whether to give feedback of just point out typos, it's all welcome.

Bruce woke up to the sound of someone typing. His head pounded and his mouth was dry, it felt like a bad hangover, but he knew better. He only ever felt like this after a transformation into the Hulk.

What happened?

He remembered helping a neighbour with a broken arm late at night. Walking to his apartment. A group of men surrounding a teenage girl. One grabbing and hitting her...

He grimaced, it was coming back now. He had Hulked out, the rest was a blur. The only question remaining was, had anyone been hurt? Even killed?

Sitting up he suddenly remembered what had woken him. The girl from what he assumed was last night was sitting roughly ten feet away from him on a fallen log.

He looked around. He was sitting in the middle of the woods. There was no sign of human activity aside from him and the girl.

The girl in question had a laptop on her lap and was happily clicking away. She had short dark brown hair in a pixie cut and while taller than what could be considered average, she wasn't giant. She was wearing a black jacket and cargo pants with shoes that looked like hybrids between hiking boots and sneakers.

She glanced up at him and he noticed she had sharp grey eyes. To be honest, that was the only thing that really stood out. Even her facial features were average. She smiled brightly.

"Rise and shine my sleeping beauty. You've been out nearly the entire day."

He stared.

She sighed, "I didn't follow you just for kicks you know. That little commotion's got the whole town buzzing. We gotta skedaddle before they trace it back to us."

Bruce recovered his voice, "Little commotion?"

Her mouth quirked up on one side as she turned the laptop around so he could read the headline.

GRUESOME MASS MURDER IN QUAINT COLLEGE TOWN, NO LEADS.

A feeling of dread filled Bruce, "How many are dead?"

"Four" She replied, "The cops are stumped. No one can figure out how one person could possibly have hurled another person against a wall hard enough to kill him. Let alone smash someone into the ground, that one was messy, let me tell you."

Bruce swallowed hard, guilt spreading through him as he listened.

He knew the Hulk had killed people before but seeing the headline and hearing the girl's descriptions of their deaths made it worse somehow. He was a danger to everyone around him. A monster. A living weapon. What was he thinking being around so many people? Any number of things could go wrong and just look at what happened when they did. He should stay away from larger populations, maybe live in the wild...

He was so lost in his thoughts that he nearly missed what she was saying.

"Of course it's only a matter of time before they find a security camera with a view of the crime scene or pull some fingerprints off whatever I touched and seeing as we're now partners in crime we might as well stick to- hey, you're looking a little woozy. You're not going to faint on me are you?"

She put the laptop to one side and knelt in front of him.

"Hey, hey. Don't panic. It wasn't you, you didn't do this."

"No," He got out, "I did, this is my fault."

She bit her lip, looking conflicted. Bruce put his head between his knees and tried to control his breathing. He could feel his heart rate speeding up. Not again. He'd even doing so well, nearly five months since an incident. Until now at least. After a minute of trying his breathing still wasn't under control.

"I killed them!" She burst out.

He looked up in shock, "What?"

She seemed surprised at what she said but after a moment she took a breath and continued, "I'm the one who killed them. I mean, you got like, one, but I would have killed him anyways and he probably would have died slower if I had..."she trailed off, an expression of guilt and distress on her face.

Bruce tried to wrap his head around what she was saying.

"You, but. I don't understand"

She winced, "Damn, well, without going all Twilighty on you, look."

She stood up and walked over to where she'd been sitting before. A dark blue duffle bag was laying there. Opening it she took out a crowbar, of all things. Walking back over to Bruce she handed it to him.

"There, try and bend that."

"Excuse me?"

"Just do it"

He obediently tried to bend it and, as expected, nothing happened. She grabbed it from his hands and held it out, horizontal with a hand on either end.

"Watch carefully" She instructed him.

And without further ado she effortlessly twisted the crowbar into a U shape.

Bruce blinked. That was impossible, no one was that strong.

The Other Guy is just as strong. That wouldn't even faze him.

He reminded himself of that fact and took a second look at the girl. Nope, completely ordinary. Except for the fact that she could bend solid metal like it was clay.

Then again, he looked completely ordinary as well. Until he turned into a giant green monster. So how could she do that?

The girl bent the crowbar back to its former shape and set it back down.

"I don't know why, or how, but I'm like, really strong now. Fast as well."

Bruce shook his head, "How did this happen?"

She shrugged, "I don't remember, I know a bunch of other stuff though. Anything that isn't personal"

She paused, looking sad, "I can't remember who I am."

Suddenly, she brightened and picked up her duffle bag.

"We have to go now. Unless you don't want to come with? 'Cause I totally get that, but we'd be the most kickass team ever. No one would mess with us."

Bruce thought about it. In reality, having a companion would just increase his chances of getting tracked down and caught. However, there was a very simple reason for wanting to go with her. He was lonely. His current lifestyle meant that he never stayed in one place long enough to make friends and even if he did, he had to move on eventually.

Who was she though? Did she had a family? Was someone looking for her?

Still, questions would be asked. She had been at the scene of the crime. There might be physical evidence. Unlikely though it seemed there could have been a witness. She was now a fugitive as well.

Bruce shrugged, "I suppose there isn't really a choice is there?"

She became serious once again, "There should always be a choice."

She gestured for him to follow, "Come on then, if you're coming."

He smiled as he caught up to her, "So, do you remember your name?"

She shook her head, "No, I'll find a good one though, at least until I find out what my original one was."

Bruce recalled the computer that she had been using, "What were you looking at on that computer anyways, and how'd you get your hands on something like that?"

The girl laughed, "I was looking at Tumblr, if you can believe it. A few other things as well. As for the laptop, the guys I took down had some cash on them. It was enough."

Bruce looked at her incredulously, "Tumblr?"

"Hey, don't judge me okay. I got an account and you actually learn a lot that isn't in mainstream news." 

They walked in silence for a few minutes until the girl spoke again.

"What do you think about Houston?"

"Houston?"

"Yeah, it has a big port and it's international. We could get out of the country pretty easily."

Bruce shrugged, "Why not? Any destination in particular?"

She brightened at his question, "Now that you mention it, Nigeria sounds like a good place to go."

"Nigeria it is then."


	4. Vacations are supposed to be fun

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Bruce and company arrive in Nigeria. Cameroon for the win.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So, yeah. Kinda forgot about this tbh. Life has been pretty busy so....Hopefully I can manage more consistent updates. We'll have to see. Anyways, here's the next chapter. Please feel free to comment and tell me what you think.

“A good traveler has no fixed plans and is not intent on arriving.” ― Lao Tzu

* * *

 

They were in Africa. Considering it is has 54 countries, 1.1 billion people, and more than 20 percent of the world's total land area, just saying they are in Africa is about as vague as saying they are on any other continent. "Oh, they're in North America! They're in Europe!" Where in America? Where in Europe?

Well for Bruce and his nameless companion, they were in Nigeria. Specifically, the city of Kano, the second most populous city in the country as of the 2006 census.

According to his newest friend anyway.

Bruce asked her how she knew that as they got off the bus.

She shrugged, "I don't know. I can remember random fact about the populations of various cities around the world, tell you the specs of pretty much any type of handgun on the market, and know how to run from the authorities, but I can't remember my own name. Anything about me, my personal life, is a blank. The rest of what I know is from the internet. Free wifi is a beautiful thing.”

She nodded down the street. "We need to find a place to stay. Somewhere inconspicuous and cheap." She began to walk away and looked over her shoulder, "Are you coming or not?"

Bruce shook his head and followed her, smiling wryly. His strange companion had somehow gotten them to Houston and found a way to get on a boat headed to Lagos, Nigeria.

The second they had disembarked, she had dragged him to a clothing store with the intention of making them look a least a little inconspicuous. Now they were dressed slightly less touristy, the girl in a loose skirt and colorful blouse and Bruce in his normal slacks, a purple shirt and a suit jacket.

A long bus ride later and they were in Kano.

According to the walking encyclopedia that was his new partner in crime he now knew more than he thought he'd ever know about the country of Nigeria.

Nigeria was the most populated country in Africa and on its way to becoming one of the leading economies of the world, apparently. The majority of the population was either Muslim or Christian, but a minority did practice religions indigenous to the region. It had a terrible railway system, but the government was working on it, just give them some time. And while the roads were the best way of getting around, they weren't really that good either.

They checked into a nice looking hotel, cash only because scams and fraud was common, and to lessen their trail.

Once they got to their room and settled in, Bruce finally asked the one question that had been bugging him for the past two days, "Why Kano?"

She rolled her eyes and shook her head in exasperation, "Transport."

"What?"

"Kano is the commercial hub of Subsaharan Africa." She explained, "We can get to any of the neighboring countries from here. The traffic should keep us mostly concealed. We'll stay here, get some supplies, then move on."

Bruce looked at her, "Move where?"

She shrugged, "Somewhere unexpected," she pulled out a map and several books and her laptop out of her ever present duffle bag. She laid the books and the laptop on the bed and spread out the map.

Bruce wandered closer and took a look at the map. It was map of Africa with transportation routes highlighted in various colours. Little Miss Nameless pointed to the western side of the continent. "We have several choices." She tapped three countries, "Niger to the North, Chad to the East and Cameroon to the South." She glanced up at Bruce, "Personally, I think we should go to Cameroon. More countries to choose from and relatively close to water, but the decision is yours to make."

Bruce studied the map for several seconds before her words sunk in.

"Wait, you want me to choose?"

She looked away and shifted slightly, "I have no memory of who I am or where I came from, I can’t remember being to any of these countries. I'm really only along for the ride, so to speak." Turning back to look him in the eyes she stated, "I won't tell you what to do, say where you want to go and I’ll make the proper arrangements." She grabbed her laptop and sat down on the bed with it. After a moment she glanced back up, “Unless you want to do something stupid, in which case I’ll talk you out of it or just ditch.”

Bruce took a deep breath and returned his gaze to the map. The fact that she was confident enough to be able to get around in any of the countries was impressive enough, but her respect for his choices in where he wanted to go was even more admirable.

“What about Chad?”

She looked up from her laptop and shook her head, “Not an option, there’s a major civil war going on, plus it’s ranked as one of the most corrupt countries in the world. We’d be better off anywhere else.”

He nodded. Right.

“Niger, then?”

She sighed, “I’d like to say yes, but not only is it landlocked, 80% is desert and the roads are shit. Okay, not really, but not the place to go if we need to move quickly. Too bad though, they could use some doctors. One of the largest infant mortality rates on the planet, so...” She typed something in to the laptop and frowned at the screen, “Yup, not good. Also Cameroon has an avoid conflict at all cost policy. So, hey, not too much stuff going on there.”

Bruce studied the map again, she had done her research and Cameroon was the only place that was near water and away from major conflicts.

She was right, Cameroon is really the best choice.

She coughed, "Cameroon" and looked away innocently when he glanced at her.

He chucked slightly, "Cameroon it is then."

She smiled brightly, "Great, now find something to do while I get us some transport."

Bruce wandered around the city for a few hours after that. He drifted through the different market places and did his best to stay out of the seedier places lest he run into unsavory characters. Without much money there was a limit to what he could buy but he managed to get a few more shirts and one pair of pants by the end of his trip.

He returned to the hotel to find that a bus ride to the border had been arranged and paid for under assumed names for both him and the nameless girl who knew how to hide from the authorities.

She was waiting for him in the parking lot, bag slug over her shoulder.  
“My name is Danica Watson and you are my uncle, Ralph Watson. We are on a backpacking trip around the world.”

Bruce nodded, accustomed to cover stories, “Come along then, Danica, we don’t want to be late now.”

‘Danica’ barked out a laugh, “You can call me Danny, I like the sound of it.” She walked away without seeing if Bruce was following. “Come on if you’re coming.”

Bruce smiled and followed after her, not noticing the inconspicuous figure watching them from across the street.


End file.
